


Soldiers, Warriors, and Mercenaries

by Lyricalvillain



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Commander Kaidan Alenko - Freeform, Mercenary shepard, Nihlus Kryik Lives, Renegade Shepard (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-10-31 05:59:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10893162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyricalvillain/pseuds/Lyricalvillain
Summary: Jane Shepard was never rescued by Alliance forces when her colony on Mindoir was raided by Batarian slavers in 2160. 23 years later, the mining colony on Eden prime is wiped out by an army of Geth and a prothean beacon is destroyed. The only lead the Alliance has is some badly damaged security footage showing a small band of mercenaries that may have interacted with the beacon before it was destroyed. Commander Kaidan Alenko is assigned to the SSV Normandy, his mission is to get to the bottom of the Eden Prime Massacre.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Author’s Note:** This is an AU, in this story there are some major divergences from canon. The timeline being one of them, for reference: the Mindoir raid happened in 2170 when Shepard was 16. In this story that raid happened ten years earlier. I shifted some characters around to suit my purposes. 
> 
> I've had this idea for a long time now, and I'm happy seeing it written down.
> 
> Also as a side note, I own nothing.

“Pillage, _then_ burn.”

\- Howard Tayler, _The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries_

 

**Chapter 1**

_Eden Prime_

_12 hours after the Geth Assault on Eden Prime_

 

“Are those…the colonists?” Sergeant Vega inquired. Peering up, way up, at an alien atrocity while standing ankle deep in destroyed Geth troopers.

Kaidan had seen the after effects of battle, of war.  He’d seen collateral damage, casualties. He’d thought the Skyllian Blitz had been the worst of it, the images still haunted his dreams. But this…this was new. Grey humanoid forms were impaled on metal spikes, shreds of clothing clung to their otherwise bare bodies. The spikes had been spaced evenly around the Tram station on Eden Prime, surrounding it.

“It would make sense; we’ve seen a lot of destruction but no bodies.” Nihlus mused aloud. Kaidan swallowed a rising feeling of disgust. “The scientists had a platoon of Alliance Marines assigned to them. They might have been able to move the beacon to the loading docks.”

The beacon hadn’t been at the dig site, nor was it at the tram station. Commander Alenko wasn’t an expert on Turian body language, but even he could tell their resident Spectre was getting restless. His foot bumped into a cracked Alliance issue helmet. A bullet hole through the visor, dried blood caked into the padding. “Let’s hope that’s the case.” Kaidan forcibly averted his gaze from the helmet, willing the flood of memories away.

“The Geth did this to them?” Gunnery Chief Williams stated, horror and disgust evident in her tone. She kicked a nearby mech viciously. “Why?”

“We’ll find out soon enough. Stay on target, we need to reach the distress beacon.” Kaidan motioned them onwards. His eyes kept drifting back to the looming spikes and the bodies atop them. The squad boarded the, miraculously still functional, Tram. “Hopefully, someone survived the attack.”

“Wouldn’t count on it. Look at this place. Geth, Giant death spikes…” Vega muttered, “This mission is FUBAR, Commander.”

The loading docks were just as devoid of life as the rest of the colony and the Prothean beacon was still smoldering when they reached it. The Distress beacon was damaged, but still operating. “Damnit.” Vega paced away from the monolith pulling his helmet from his head in frustration. Kaidan deactivated it.

The platform itself was in disarray. At its center, a circle of the floor remained untouched, debris piled around it and a large pool of long dried blood at its center. “Someone lost a lot of blood here.” Kaidan observed, kicking some charred debris out of the way to take a closer look at the anomaly.

“We should look around, see if there are any survivors.” Vega called out as he peered behind a line of crates.

“Whoever was here, lost too much blood to have survived without medical assistance.” Nihlus rebuked. “Concentrate on the beacon, we need to find out what happened.”

“Whatever data was stored in that beacon must’ve been valuable.” Williams ran her hand over the dead artifact.

“Or very dangerous.” Kaidan tacked on, considering the area thoughtfully. The docks were half demolished, some crates were still smoldering. The tram control booth was mostly untouched; its doors were ajar. Vega had wandered over to it, frustration creasing his brow.

“What do the Geth need with a Prothean beacon?” Nihlus pondered aloud, doing his own sweep of the area. “What was their objective…”

Vega dropped his helmet and began to pry the door open. The sound of metal on metal attracted the rest of the squad’s attention as he finally managed to make a space large enough for someone to squeeze through. “Hey, I think I see a terminal in there.”

“We may be able to access security footage from there.” Alenko suggested, ducking under the much larger man into the booth. Sure enough the booth was outfitted with monitors and a server with the stations security feed footage.

“Williams,” Kaidan stepped away from the console, waving the Gunnery Chief in towards the system’s interface “Think you can get it running?”

“I can try, Sir.” She stated, dutifully pulling up the footage of the platform on the damaged screen. “Pulling up footage from when the distress beacon was activated.”

A wave of Geth troopers popped up on screen, dock workers scattered, a few were gunned down and hauled off camera by the mechs. It was a massacre, and over in minutes. “There’s no Audio?” Kaidan pressed the Gunnery Chief curiously. She shook her head mutely at him. They watched in somber silence as the static laced footage depicted a Turian walking with a small contingent of Geth towards the Beacon.

“Is that… No… it can’t be.” Nihlus muttered to himself as the blurry Turian on screen paced in front of the Monolith. He extended a hand towards it, for a moment nothing happened.

“Do you recognize him, Nihlus?” Vega inquired, nodding towards the screen. Kaidan felt the hairs raise on the back of his neck as the beacon emitted a beam of energy that lifted the Turian off of his feet and a few seconds later allowed him to drift back down seemingly unharmed.

“I-“ Nihlus paused, his mandibles fluttering. “I can’t be sure.” He watched with unsettling intensity as the turian on screen staggered off towards the loading docks, and presumably his ship. The Geth milled around after that, placing large explosives around the platform. “That explains how the platform was destroyed-“ Nihlus began, but trailed off when Geth troopers started drawing their weapons and running for cover.

A Salarian raced on screen, taking out the mechs with a precision that boasted of prior STG training. He moved past the first visible explosive and provided covering fire for an armored human that launched onto the platform after him. The human, a female by the looks of it, hunched over the bomb before the pair moved onto the next. “Who the hell are they?” Vega leaned forward, squinting at the screen. “That’s not alliance issue armor.”

“There are no Salarian’s on any of the colony’s rosters, and none listed in any of the docking logs.” Williams chimed in, swiping through a data pad.

“Unauthorized landing.” Kaidan crossed his arms. “Pirates? Mercenaries?”

“Probably.” Nihlus hummed in agreement.

They watched as the duo systematically fended off the Geth and dismantled the explosives, successfully clearing the platform. They had a few words with one another before turning their attention to the beacon. “I wish we knew what they were saying.” Williams groused. “We might know what all of this is about-“ she cut herself off with a startled whoosh of breath when the Beacon lashed out.

It latched onto the Salarian. The human tackled him, knocking him from the beam. Her helmet was dislodged as she was wrenched into the air in the Salarian’s stead, revealing a head of short bright red hair. Convulsions wracked her body. After a few long, painful minutes of interaction with the artifact, she was dropped unceremoniously onto the platform. Sickly green light crackling over the Prothean monolith dangerously. Surprisingly, the mercenary staggered to her feet. She managed to throw herself over her Salarian partner, erecting a biotic shield just as the beacon exploded. Static overtook the footage.

“Some of the debris must have hit her before her shield could go up.” Williams mused aloud.

“Download a copy.” Nihlus instructed. “We’ll need to present this to the council. Then we’ll have to find those mercs.”

“If they’re even still alive.” Vega countered. “You said it yourself, she lost too much blood. Without a medic she probably died.”

“The Salarian may have had medical training.” The Turian Spectre volleyed back at the Marine.

“Say he managed to keep her alive and get them back to their ship.” Kaidan interjected, a crease between his brows, brown eyes distant in thought. “How would we find them with no flight manifest?”

Nihlus’ mandibles spread wide in a terrifying Turian smile. “We’ll go where every Merc in the Galaxy goes when they need to disappear for a while.”

“Omega.” Vega sounded far too gleeful about their next destination. “This mission just got a whole lot better.”

“Vega, sometimes you worry the hell out of me.” Williams remarked dryly, unwittingly voicing Kaidan’s thoughts.

 

_Omega Station_

_4 Days after the Assault on Eden Prime_

 

Omega was a cruel mistress; but that brand of cruelty was one that her team was used to. Eden prime... “Eden Prime was a _shit show_.” she scowled,down at her omni-tool, pacing back in forth in front of her small patchwork ship. “There were Geth, a Turian biotic, and the fucking relic blew the hell up. Who- where the hell did you get this job from, Brekka?”

“Stop complaining, Raik. You’re still alive. That’s more than those colonists can say.” Her contact, a batarian grumbled to her.

“I know, I know.” A low blow, and judging by the way his eyes twitched back and forth he knew it too. Every burning building, every lifeless husk of a human being, every Geth trooper had dragged memories long buried back into the limelight. She’d been six when the Batarians had raided the farming colony on Mindoir.

Raik took a deep breath in through her nose, Banishing the memories into the farthest corner of her mind. Her pacing halted in front of the airlock. “Who. Hired. My team.”

“Sounded Turian, didn’t get a name.”

“God fucking damnit.” She hissed, running a hand down her face. “I lost one of my guys out there and I want- No, no. I _need_ to know what kind of shit storm I’ve stepped into.”

“I’ll see what I can dig up alright?” Brekka barked back before the vidcom went dead.

A hand raked through short red hair, she resisted the urge to press her fingers to her temples in a vain attempt to relieve her days old headache. They’d lost their newest man five minutes after landing at the colony. He was a good kid, Turian, looking to make a name for himself. Taken down by a drone. Then once they’d cut a path through the waves of Geth to the docks, the Prothean beacon had emitted some weird energy, latched onto Raik and then promptly exploded; leaving her with a raging headache and strange terrifying visions whenever she closed her eyes. “I need a damn drink.”

The lower level of afterlife was the kind of place where you couldn’t trust anybody, not even the bartender. Teeming with lowlives and hardened criminals, Raik almost felt at home.

Raik easily found her Salarian crew member sitting at their usual booth. “Heads up, Mordin.” She slid him a drink which he acknowledged by picking it up and downing it in his usual fashion.

His fingers flew over a data pad, intent on whatever he was working on. “Captain,” He intoned, without missing a beat “Talk to Brekka?”

“Yeah.” she swirled her shot of liquor before downing it. “Anonymous client.”

“Unfortunate.” Mordin frowned, “Will use my contacts. Eden Prime was troubling business. Not good for continued viability rate.”

She allowed him to work in silence for a few moments. Waving a waitress to bring them three more drinks. “Did Tantis have any family we should notify?” She asked finally, the waitress dropped three bottles on the table.

“None listed.” Mordin answered promptly. He most likely had the kids whole file memorized. Raik would kill for a photographic memory.

“Then we should do the honors.” She pushed him another drink. Mordin nodded, laying his datapad to the side. Raik slid the third drink towards the unoccupied corner of the booth. “To Velius Tantus.” The pair raised their bottles.

They didn’t stay long after that, making their way through the lower levels towards the docks. “It’s quiet.” Raik observed, hand resting on the grip of her weapon. Quiet on Omega usually meant trouble.

“Agreed.” Mordin hummed, overlarge eyes assessing their surroundings.

“-No” An accented female voice drifted to them from down a back alley, it led to the cargo docks if she wasn't mistaken. “I’ll only speak to Vorlean.”

“Well you’re out of luck, sweetheart.” A distinctly male voice replied. “Vorlean sent me.”

“That sounded like Beltran.” Raik perked up slightly shooting Mordin a look.

“This- No, he said he would be here.” The woman’s voice dropped an octave. “Who hired you?”

“Should we intervene?” Mordin inquired while drawing his sidearm. Raik grinned at him.

“Give me the data,” Beltran sneered, “nobody needs to get hurt, sweetheart.”

“You’re damn right we should. That oily son of a bitch owes me three thousand credits, and a new pair of thrusters.” Raik reloaded, gleefully.

Mordin huffed, “Irrelevant. You would shoot him for three credits.”

“Or for shits and giggles, I’m not choosey.” They charged into the alley just as the shooting started, flanking the Eclipse members that had been moving in on a young female Quarian.

“Look who it is!” Beltran crowed over the sounds of plasma rounds. No doubt taking cover somewhere until most of the danger had passed. “Raik and her pet Salarian Scientist.”

Mordin’s eyes narrowed and an Eclipse Biotic took an incendiary round to the helmet. “Thought I was harmless, did you?” Said pet Salarian snarled, reloading.

“Just who I was hoping to run into next.” Beltran continued as if one of his men didn’t just die a painful fiery death. “Think you can take down the best Squad in Eclipse?”

Raik holstered her pistol and snatched her semi automatic machine gun from it’s perch on her shoulder. “I find that the best Eclipse squad-” She popped out from cover, letting a spray of rounds loose in the direction of a particularly troublesome gangster. He dropped out of sight with a gurgling cry of pain. “Is a dead Eclipse squad.” She ejected her spent thermal clip and smacked a new one home. “I can easily help you achieve that, Beltran.”

Mordin launched himself over the line of sturdy crates he’d hidden himself behind and moved forward. “Captain, the Quarian is injured. Multiple suit breaches probable. Needs immediate treatment to prevent fatal infection.”

“Where is she?” Raik inquired, picking off another gangster.

“In front of Beltran.” Mordin replied, his tone more clipped than usual. Raik took a peek past her own barrier. The Qaurian was huddled behind a small stack of crates, one arm tucked into her side and a pistol clasped in the other. An old data storage unit was sandwiched in next to her.

“Then let’s finish making this the best Eclipse squad on Omega.” Raik shot back. “ Grab the girl, and we get the fuck outta here.” 

Beltran laughed, an ugly gleeful sound. “You’re not going anywhere!”

“Says who?” Raik snarled, “You?” she relocated a few rounds strategically into the man next to him. “You’ve lost Beltran.”

He barked another laugh, as Mordin inched ever closer to the Quarian. Raik put a bullet in his last squadmate. “No.” He crowed, gleefully as a dozen Geth popped out of the surrounding crates. “They do.”

Chaos quickly descended upon the small docking bay. “Where-” She yelled into her headset unnecessarily, shooting blindly over the crates she’d rolled behind, “-do these things keep coming from?!” She pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it in the general direction of some Geth. “And why the fuck are they friends with so many Turians?”

Mordin Had finally reached the quarian, after what looked like a brief exchange he helped her to her feet and provided covering fire as they slowly, painfully, made their way back towards Raik. “Unknown. Captain. Suggestion.” Mordin squeezed off a few shots, felling a Geth trooper. “Retreat, fight another day.”

“Hate to love your plan,” Raik snarled, peeking over the crates to see more Geth inbound and Beltran beating a steady retreat. She snarled and shot a mech in the head “But I do.”

 

_Haskins, Titan Nebula, The Resolution_

 

Losing a particularly persistent Geth Squad hadn’t been easy. But they’d managed. Raik ran her fingers through her short cropped hair with an exhausted sigh. “This week has just been one thing after the other.”

“No rest for the wicked.” Mordin added in absently, pacing across the deck while muttering to himself under his breath. Still attempting to piece together the Geth and the prothean beacon no doubt. Raik tapped at her omnitool to take a cursory glance at an email from Brekka. More bad news. Whoever had hired them had covered their tracks. They would need to rely on Mordin’s contacts for additional information. She forwarded the message to her Salarian Crew member to view at his leisure.

“Thank you, for your help.” The Quarian stated as she emerged from the cargo hold below. The space doubled as an armory, a lab and a medbay. Not the most sanitary of spaces but it did the trick in a pinch.

“Ah good.” Mordin scanned her quickly, assessing the readings quickly. “Only mild infection. Antibiotics already working. Fever is probable, but not fatal.”

“Ah, yes-” His up front manner caused the girl to fumble a bit with her words. “I should be fine, a little head cold, nothing that won’t clear up in a few days.” Salarians were a short lived race, and they were normally very quick thinkers, fast talkers. Raik knew from experience that Mordin was quicker than the average Salarian.

Mordin hummed, head jerking in affirmation. “Good.” before he paced away towards the bridge.

“Don’t mention it, kid.” Raik brushed the matter off with a wave of her hand. “No really, don’t. Bad for business.”

“I’m not a ‘kid’.” The Quarian puffed up defensively.

“Well then, if I can’t call you kid,” Raik huffed in mild amusement, “what can I call you?”

“My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya.” She stated, chest puffing up slightly. “You may call me Tali.”

“Alright Tali.” Raik tucked her data pad under her arm, giving Tali her undivided attention. “Where can we drop you off?”

Tali considered Raik for a long moment, turning something around in her hands over and over. “Actually I was hoping I could hire you.”

“I’m listening.”

 

_Omega Station_

_5 days after the Assault on Eden Prime_

 

The meeting with the council had gone about as well as expected. Nihlus had brought accusations against a fellow spectre, Saren. Producing the security vid footage as evidence.

The Council had claimed the footage was too damaged to be considered conclusive evidence, but had suspended Saren’s spectre status in the meantime. Nihlus hadn’t taken it well.

Said turian slammed his fist into the stomach of a particularly mouthy merc named Beltran. Pressing the wheezing male into the metal bulkhead. “Lie to me again.”

“I’m not lying-” He coughed up a little blue blood, “Shit. You know how many Human Mercs there are on this station? How many Salarians?”

“You _know_ these two. The dock workers gave you up.” Nihlus insisted, shoving the other Turian against the wall roughly before stepping back, he crossed his arms. “Female, biotic-” The merc rolled his eyes, Nihlus leaned forward menacingly, “ _Red head_.”

Kaidan frowned as the Eclipse Mercenary slumped to the floor, chuckling weakly. “Raik?” He swiped the back of his talon tipped hand across his face, smearing blue blood against his pale plating. “Seems like everybody wants a piece of that bitch these days.”

“Who else is looking for her?” Nihlus demanded, looming over the other Turian.

“Does it really matter?” Beltran sneered, one mandible lifting higher than the other. Nihlus drew his sidearm and pressed the barrel to the beaten mercenary’s temple. “Woah, Alright! Look, what do you want? A list? That _pyjak_ has been a pain in the ass since she took her first job.”

“Nihlus-” Kaidan warned from behind the Spectre. The entire mission was making him edgy...well edgier than he usually was.

“I’m not asking for her personal history.” Nihlus clicked the safety off, “I’m asking about recently. Within the last couple of weeks, specifically.”

“I dunno- somebody finally put a hit out on her and her Salarian boyfriend. No name, just a price.” Beltran swallowed harshly. Nihlus pushed his head sideways with the barrel of his pistol, finger tightening around the trigger, looking unimpressed.

“Kryik!” Kaidan barked.”Stand down.” Nihlus ignored him.

“Okay sure I may have tried to take the job, tangled with her briefly down at the cargo docks.” Beltran, shrunk away from the weapon. “But I beat it once the Geth showed up. As far as I know she got away. That’s it- all I know! I swear! You can still find the listing in the lower levels of Afterlife!”

Nihlus finally holstered the Magnum, clicking the safety back on. “Get out of here.”

The two men watched as the merc stumbled away, lurching into an alleyway and out of sight. Nihlus turned to find himself toe to toe with the much shorter human Commander. “Next time I give you an order, I expect you to follow it.” Alenko growled, eyes narrow and stance wide.

“He had information that we needed.” Nihlus retorted, irritation seeping into his tone, mandibles pressed against his jaw.

“You took it too far.” Commander Alenko insisted. “There had to have been a better way of getting that info-”

“Your rule book means shit on Omega, Alenko” Nihlus snarled, “We have a mission to complete.”

“This isn’t just about the mission, this is personal.” Kaidan scowled up at the taller alien, silently demanding answers to unspoken questions. “If you continue on like this you’ll be more of a liability than an asset.” Nihlus scoffed and paced away before turning back. “If this is going to work, we need to trust each other.” Kaidan insisted.

The Turian Spectre was quiet for a long moment. “Saren is more than just a fellow spectre.” He revealed mandibles fluttering. “He was my mentor. He was never the biggest fan of the human race, but to think he took part in the assault...” Nihlus shook his head, pressing his mandibles tightly against his face. “We need to find out what happened. There has to be more to this than what we’re seeing.”

“Then let’s follow that lead.” Kaidan nodded, relaxing his posture. “But we do things my way from now on.”

 

  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Please excuse me as I dabble in Scifi with Fanfiction and probably use the wrong terms for things. I know nothing and I own nothing.
> 
> As a warning, This chapter jumps back and forth a bit. I'm experimenting and you lovely souls are my guinea pigs :)

“The intel you've got is never the intel you want.”

\- Howard Tayler, _The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries_

 

**Chapter 2**

 

_Citadel, Upper Wards, C-SEC Headquarters, Interrogation Room B_

_Present day_

 

Raik slouched in the uncomfortable metal chair, trying to ignore the omni-cuffs buzzing around her forearms. She’d been sitting in the interrogation room for at _least_ thirty minutes. The light in the left most corner was flickering and it was driving her to distraction. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to shut out the light. It didn’t work.

_On_

_Off_

_Onoff_

_On_

_Offonoffon_

The door hissed open, admitting a pair of Turians into the room. She opened her eyes. “Raik, was it?” The younger of the two, clad in the standard blue C-SEC armor spoke first, while the second, outfitted in black slunk into the farthest corner to watch the proceedings with luminescent eyes. “Says here your name is Jane Shepard. Last known home of record was on Mindoir-” The turian C-SEC officer paused at the colony name, mandibles fluttering at the implications. He cleared his throat awkwardly and dropped into the seat across from her “Right... Do you know why you're here, Shepard?”

“I prefer Raik, if you don’t mind.” She corrected him in a bland tone but not without undertones of respect.

“Raik, that’s a Krogan clan isn’t it?” The Turian in the corner inquired, his head tilting slightly in interest.

“It is, but it’s not why I’m here.” Jane shrugged, eliciting a sigh from the C-SEC officer.

“Disturbing the peace, destruction of public property, extortion, fraud, vandalism, assault and battery, assault with a deadly weapon, racketeering-” The turian paused for breath, leveling her with an unimpressed glare. “I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point. Any of this sounding familiar, _Shepard_.” The use of her human name, her real name, was deliberate. She didn’t appreciate it and they knew it. Rude.

She slouched back into her seat. “Sounds like a good time.” The C-SEC officer’s mandibles twitched up into a fleeting smile before he coughed into his fist to cover it up. She stared at him with a raised brow and wide eyes. A Turian with a sense of humor. Interesting.

“Look, why don’t we start at the beginning.” He pushed the datapad to the side, folding his hands in front of him, electric blue eyes intently focused on her. “What do you know about Eden Prime?”

That was completely out of left field. Jane shut her eyes for a moment and cursed herself silently for the slip. “It’s a backwater colony in the Terminus systems. They Farm or basket weave out there. Why?”

“There was an incident recently.” The Older Turian commented. “We have reason to believe you and a salarian... _colleague_ of yours were planetside when it happened.”

“Never been there before in my life.” Jane stated swiftly. “Ship’s docking manifest can attest to that.” And it could, if they found it in a timely manner, but only because they never docked at an official port.

“So you’re telling me-” The C-SEC officer hit a few keys on the data pad at the edge of the table. A blurry holo popped up above it, displaying her suspended by the beacon, Mordin crumpled on the ground below her. “This isn’t you?”

“It’s a little corrupted isn’t it.” She stated, staring the man in the eyes, “Could be _anybody_.”

“Alright.” The officer sighed, twitching a little in agitation, “We’ll come back to this. Tell me everything that happened since you docked.”

Jane kept her mouth shut. The change in subject told her they suspected what she already knew. That the Eden Prime incident was linked to the chaos surrounding her and her crew on the Citadel. They wanted her to give them names. Her crew, her contacts. Her eyes narrowed as she considered both Turians shrewdly. They could possibly be looking for Tali, for the intel on that Council Spectre she’d managed to acquire. For what end, she didn’t know and she wasn’t going to chance it.

The Turian in the corner stepped forward, looming over her, “You’ll be going away for a long time, Shepard. We can make sure you’re at least comfortable, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose here.”

Typical scare tactic. She’d gotten the same spiel from an intergalactic traffic cop. Jane grit her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut again. They were wrong, she had plenty to lose. Her freedom, the trust and loyalty of her crew- lives were on the line.

_Offon_

She could still hear Saren’s self assured voice echoing in her mind, _“Eden Prime was a major victory,”_ The bastard had slaughtered an entire colony. _“the beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit.”_

_Off_

_“And one step closer to the return of the Reapers.”_ Reapers. Hyper advanced machines bent on wiping out all organic life in the galaxy.They featured in her fractured nightmares.  

_Onoff_

“Shepard.” The C-SEC officer called to her, talons tapping against the metal table.

_Onoffonoff_

_On_

_Off_

That damned light, She inhaled through her nose and out through her mouth. Saren had reach, he had access. He would find them no matter where they went. Raik didn’t have the resources to chase a council Spectre into deep space. She considered the pair in the room again. If they were working for Saren they could have killed her already. They had access to resources, to the council. They could make them listen. But...  “Raik.” The C-SEC Officer tried again, sounding exasperated.

_On_

 

She opened her eyes and started talking.

 

_Citadel Presidium_

_2 days prior_

 

“Three months?!” Tali exclaimed “But it’s important!”

“It always is.” the receptionist brushed the Quarian woman off and turned his attention to the next person in line with a pleasant tone. “How may I help you sir?”

Tali stalked back towards Raik was waiting near the far side of the appointment office. “That- That- _bosh'tet_!” She huffed, reaching out to take her datapad from the human woman.

“It went that well, huh?” Raik winced in sympathy.

“He called me a- a _suit rat_.” The Quarian seethed, “Wouldn’t listen to a word I had to say.”

“He called you a _what_ now?” Raik stood a bit straighter, gaze zeroing in on the secretary. Tali had only been with them a short time, but Raik had already adopted the alien. Tali was uncertain and shy, but a veritable tech wizard and a damn good shot to boot. “We’ll get you in to see the Council.” She promised, “Don’t worry about that.”

“But- you heard what he said,” Tali stuttered, confused as she and Raik made their way back out into the commons. “They don’t have an opening for three months.”

“Have a little faith in me, Tali.” Raik grinned at her, waiting to reply until after they’d passed a harassed looking C-SEC officer and a preaching Hanar. “We’re going to _make_ an opening. We just need a little info first.”

 

_Citadel, Upper Wards, C-SEC Headquarters, Interrogation Room B_

_Present day_

 

“This Quarian,” The officer interrupted, fingers tapping at his datapad “Did they have a name?”

“They didn’t say, and I didn’t ask.” Raik supplied unhelpfully, lying through her teeth. They wanted the story, but they’d have to work for the details. “Standard customer confidentiality policy, you understand I’m sure.” Besides she wasn’t entirely sure she could trust them yet.

“A gender then.” The officer in black pried further, irritation clear in his tone. She was almost positive he was a Spectre.

“I dunno, I can never tell and I’d hate to be rude and presume.” Jane shrugged, stuck between hating the ever so slightly xenophobic statement that had come out of her mouth and the smug satisfaction ballooning in her chest when the older turian closed his eyes in an attempt to compose himself. She was pretty sure he was counting to ten.

“What about the rest of your crew?” The younger Turian officer interjected, she was once again thrown by how blue his eyes were. “Your Salarian friend, Mordin Solus. What was he up to?”

“Hell if I know.” Jane shot back casually silently cringing when she realized she’d just slipped again.SHe’d reaffirmed that she had a Salarian partner, and that his name was Mordin. “We hit a port and he goes off and does Salarian type things.” They knew his name but she doubted they would actually catch him. He could be a slippery bastard when he wanted to be. Former STG agent and all around badass. Raik didn’t fuck around when she was picking crew members.

“What kind of Salarian things?” Spectre asked, closing his eyes as if he already regretted his inquiry.

Jane’s smile was all teeth, “Science-y Salarian things, probably.” Spectre’s expression darkened dangerously.

“Alright!” The younger Turian, now dubbed Blue, interjected before his Spectre companion could so much as take a step towards the table. “So you tracked Arius to Chora’s Den. What happened next.”

She hummed, looking up as if recalling something that happened a lifetime ago. “Assault and Battery.” she sucked on her teeth, “Attempted extortion, and that may also be where assault with a deadly weapon comes into play.”

 

_Citadel, Lower wards_

_One Day Prior_

 

The Turian hit the wall with a groan. Tali’s hands fisted in his shirt. Raik paced behind the angry Quarian slowly, examining her nails as if the proceedings were disinteresting to her. “Arius- it was Arius wasn’t it- I believe you owe my friend here an apology.” She drawled. Finally glancing up at the, now very drunk, receptionist from the other day. “You should really try to be more professional at work.”

“I’m sorry,” He snivelled, Tali let him go and he slid down the wall, holding his spinning head in his hands. “Don’t kill me, _please_. I’ll do anything.”

“Arrange a meeting with the council.” Raik stated simply.

The turian let out a keening noise of distress, “Anything but that. Please. I was- I am just doing what they told me. They’ll kill me if I let you in to see the council.”

“What who told you?” Tali stepped back, looking back at Raik in confusion. “Who doesn’t want us to see the council?”

Arius shook his head, groaning. “I’ve said too much already.”

Raik stepped forward. “Arius, I need to know who threatened you. Who do they work for?”

“They used to work for the Blue Suns.” Arius swallowed thickly, “But now- It’s Fist, He’s been paid off by-” the turian was rudely interrupted by a bolt of plasma to the temple. Raik snagged Tali’s arm and pulled her into an alcove just as plasma rounds started flying through the alley.

“Shit!” The redhead cussed loudly as a round clipped her shoulder. “My shields are down!”

Tali reloaded, and popped around the corner, firing off a barrage of shots. An accompanying cry of pain from down the hall indicating that she’d hit her mark. “That’s one down!” she crowed.  “One more to go!” Raik announced, popping around the alcove corner and shooting the last assassin in the shoulder. His shields flickered and he ducked down, biding his time.

“Listen,” Raik used the lull in combat to apply medigel to her shoulder.. “Tali, once we cap this guy I need you to go find Mordin.”

“What?!” Tali exclaimed, A grenade clenched in her hand “I can handle myself Raik, I _don’t_ need to be coddled.” She pulled the pin and sent the explosive flying behind the crates where the second assassin was holed up.

 

_“Ah shi-”_ The explosion rocked the hallway.

 

“Obviously you can hold your own, You just blew a man up and shot another in the face. I’m not coddling you!” Raik argued, holstering her pistol aggressively. “I need to scope out this Fist character. And I need you to find Mordin and tell him I’m going to get some damn answers. If I don’t meet up with you in 24 hours… Mordin will have a plan.”

They both stood, Tali was visibly tense. “Why don’t you just call him yourself. Going off alone is reckless-”

“Our coms are probably being monitored.” Raik interjected impatiently “We shot him an update before we went after this douche,” She nudged Arius’ body with a toe. “May the Spirits guide his dumb ass- and we had assassin's up _our_ asses before he could drop a name.”

Tali drooped, “It could be possible they tapped into our com channel.” she mused aloud, pacing away and then back. With a sigh Tali turned to face Raik again. “Just...Be careful.”

 

_Citadel, Upper Wards, C-SEC Headquarters, Interrogation Room B_

_Present day_

 

“Hold on.” Blue interrupted her, shaking his head in disbelief. “You want me to believe that you took out over three dozen of Fist’s men _alone_?”

“God no-” she scoffed, “I needed info first. Can’t go running blind into _every_ job.” she leaned back in her seat, quirking a brow at him. “I needed to deal with the Shadow Broker.”

“The Shadow Broker?” Spectre sounded skeptical.

“I mean, not directly. Nobody deals with him directly.” Raik amended, “I had to find one of his agents.”

 

_Citadel, Presidium_

_12 hours Prior_

 

Shadow Broker agents always creeped Raik out. They were the most unassuming looking people. Always so polite and sweet even when they were telling you exactly how they were going to break your limbs. This one was no different.

“Fist? I suspect you’ll get more information from Urdnot Wrex than I could possibly give you.” The volus demurred, his hands folded neatly on the desk in front of him. “The Shadow Broker hired him after all.”

“And where can I find Wrex?” Raik didn’t doubt that the agent had info he wasn’t keen on sharing, but he’d given her enough to go on.

“I would check around the C-SEC offices.” The volus informed her, starting to busy himself with documents.

Taking her cue to leave she nodded to him. “Thanks for the help.”

C-SEC was hardly the place she wanted to be skulking around looking for a Krogan Merc. But things being as they were it was somewhat of a necessity. She didn’t have to loiter for too long by the office entrances. A red crested Krogan lumbered out, a snarl stretched across his wide face.

“You Urdnot Wrex?” She inquired as he passed.

“Who’s asking?” He stopped, assessing her with blood red eyes. Hand on the butt of his shotgun, finger already resting on the trigger.

“Jane of Clan Raik.”

“Got anything to back it up?” Wrex’s finger stayed on the trigger, but his posture seemed to ease slightly.

It wasn’t really a request so much as a demand. Shepard crossed her arms over her chest, levelling him with a hard look. “I went through my trials. I earned my clan name.” She announced, her chin tucked low so she could look at him from beneath her brows. It was a Krogan motion, a challenging motion. He huffed at her, skeptical. Jane’s lips quirked into a devious grin “I hear you’re gunning for Fist.”

 

_Citadel, Upper Wards, C-SEC Headquarters, Interrogation Room B_

_Present day_

 

"You can probably piece the rest together at this point." Raik summed up with a careless shrug.

"After leading an armed assault on Chora's Den with Urdnot Wrex, you parted ways." A new voice interjected the doors hissing open. A human man, dressed in Alliance fatigues entered the room. "You were apprehended in the lower wards, presumably on your way to the docks, by Gunnery Chief Williams." Raik's eyes narrowed as she attempted to keep a scowl from twisting her lips. "How am I doing so far?"

He was the stereotypical picture of an Alliance officer. Handsome, with a stiff rigidity in not only posture but probably everyday life 

"Not bad, Alliance." Raik forced herself to relax, "You're lacking in the flair department though."

Green warred with brown from across the interrogation room. "You lied about Eden Prime." He stated, finally breaking the silence.

"Maybe." Raik smirked at him, her chin dipping low in challenge. "I lie about a lot of things."

 

_Citadel, Lower wards, Chora’s Den_

_10 Hours Prior_

 

Fist had been gunning for them too. Plasma rounds were flying around the room, Chaos reigned. They were clearly outnumbered ten to one, and at least three of Fist’s men were packing heavy artillery. The bastard had known they were coming.

Shepard’s shields were down and her patience was wearing thin. She’d behaved herself so far, refrained from using her biotics. Her migraines had lessened, and her nightmares...hadn’t… but It was use them and maybe die or don’t and definitely die. “Fuck this.” She snarled, and charged, her body surrounded in a crackling blue layer of energy. She knocked back three men, Omnitool forming a blade around her fist as she slammed it into the chest of a fourth.

She tore her semi automatic from her back and finished off the three that had been scrambling to their feet. Wrex’s boisterous laughter cut in over the gunfire. Shepard rolled to cover, reloading and applying medigel.

 

“ _Krogan charging!_ ” One of the men warned his companions.

 

Wrex slammed through two booths, flinging a table at a rickety crate, exposing four more men.

The fight was over quickly after that and the pair made their way into the back rooms. Fist was alone in his office, And after a brief shoot out, was spilling his guts.

“Please don’t kill me!” He pleaded, cowering at Raik’s feet.

“Why does everyone lead with that?” She wondered facetiously. “I’m not going to kill you. Well not if you give me what I’m looking for.” she crouched next to him, omniblade dipping close to his person.

“What- what is it, money?” He started what Raik knew would be a long rambling line of concessions.

“Information.” Raik Hummed. “You and your thugs have been gunning for my client and my crew since we docked here. Why? Who hired you?”

“Saren!” He spat  the name out so quickly Raik reared back in surprise, “Saren Arterius! That Quarian of yours, she has something, something he needs to disappear.” He was without a doubt referring to the Audio files Tali had salvaged from a Geth trooper.

“How is he involved with the Geth?” Raik inquired. She doubted he would know. He was a middleman, a pawn.

“That’s all I know, I swear! He paid me to silence the Qaurian, keep her from reaching the council, not ask questions.” Fist sniveled. Scooting backwards a bit, eyes darting from Raik to Wrex and back. “I can go now right?”

Before Raik could say anything, his head exploded into a shower of blood and brain matter. It spattered across her face. “Really?” Raik growled after a long moment of shocked silence. The indignant ‘You could have killed me!’ sat heavily on her tongue. She swallowed the words. He already knew that, smug sonuvabitch.

“I said I would kill him.” Wrex shrugged, his shotgun still smoking.

“Yeah, I got that part.” She seethed, standing and swiping at her face, only managing to smear crimson garishly across her face. “But you couldn’t have waited like ten seconds? I was _clearly_ in the splash zone.”

 

_Citadel, Upper Wards, C-SEC Headquarters, Holding Cell 24_

_Present day_

 

They’d dumped her in a holding cell. To 'give her time to think about her story'... and probably went to track down her ship. It would take them a little while, but they’d find it. She hoped that Tali had found Mordin. Mordin would be able to come up with a suitable plan. He would do the right thing, he had a penchant for doing the right thing. She stared up at a bolt in the ceiling, her arms pillowing her head.

She’d always wondered why he tagged along with her. He’d been on some sort of religious sabbatical when they’d crossed paths. The cold hiss of her cell door opening broke her chain of thought, she sat up abruptly. A Salarian dressed in a C-SEC uniform stood in the doorway, a pistol aimed at her head. She slowly stood, hands up in the universal sign of surrender. He advanced, so sure of himself. Jane could almost see herself reflected in his overlarge eyes.

“You crossed the wrong man.”  he smirked, pressing his pistol against her temple. “Somebody paid a lot of money to shut you up.”

“Waste of money.” She grunted, twisting and smacking the dirty cop’s arm to the side. The silenced pistol went off. She ducked under his firing arm, wrapped an arm around his elbow and quickly snapped his arm in two. He howled in pain and she scooped up the gun and made a mad dash for the door.

Slapping the outside door lock she began making her way towards the exit. A few officers lay slumped against the walls, clearly dead. She hissed and slunk onward. It was the middle of the night cycle, the security station was probably being manned by a skeleton crew. She wondered if her unwelcome guest had killed all of them or maybe created a diversion.

The door at the end of the hallway hissed open before she could reach it, Mordin and Tali stood in the entrance way, guns held aloft. “Captain.” Mordin Greeted her crisply, eyes darting over her assessing. Always assessing.

“Mordin! Tali!” Raik exhaled in relief, She had half hoped they’d started prepping to leave. Had worried that Tali had been caught, that Mordin- “It hasn’t even been twenty four hours -”

“Correction.” Mordin interrupted. “It’s been twenty six hours, ten minutes and fifteen seconds.” Raik snorted.

“We bumped into an...associate of yours.” Tali continued, the massive form of a Krogan filled the doorway behind them. “He filled us in.”

“Raik.” Wrex stepped out into the hallway grinning in the wide twisted way that Krogans often did, and cracked his knuckles. “Good to see you haven’t died yet.”

The redhead barked out a laugh as she made her way closer, nodding her head towards the exit. “Good to see you too, Wrex.”

 

_Citadel Docking Station 9, The Resolution_

_Present Day_

 

Garrus was technically off duty, his supervisor would reprimand him in the morning but, standing in Jane “Raik” Shepard’s dingy little ship, he couldn’t find it in him to give much of a damn. Her logs were meticulous, no doubt maintained by her Salarian crew member, Mordin Solus. They had been encrypted particularly well, but Garrus had gotten through that with minimal cussing. Medical logs, shipping manifests, (and after a significant amount of digging) a ship’s log detailing every location, every client and every job.

And yet it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t find anything about an affiliation to Saren. Either they were very good at omitting key information from their logs, or they honestly weren’t working for him. He sighed in frustration, another dead end. “Maybe Shepard was telling the truth.” He flipped through her medical file looking for anything out of the ordinary.

 

_Name: Raik Jane_

_Species: Human_

_Gender: F_

_Age: 29_

_Blood Type: A+_

_Biotic: Y_

 

He paused on the most recent log, tapping through with interest.

 

_Accident on Eden Prime involving Prothean beacon. Brain activity well above standard for REM sleep. Patient complains of visions and residual migraines. Possible data transfer? Inconclusive. Limited data. Further testing required. Recommend patient abstain from use of biotic powers in combat._

 

Garrus stared long and hard at the log. Commander Alenko had hinted that Saren had possibly been involved in the Eden Prime massacre. Was it possible he had been after the data in the beacon? Was he attempting to eliminate all loose ends? He copied the logs and sent them to Nihlus. Maybe the Spectre could do more with the information than he could.

He was drawn from his thoughts by the distant sounds of gunfire. The ship’s airlock opened above him, voices drifting through the thin mesh like flooring. His hand went to his side arm.

“-got to be fucking kidding me.” Shepard’s voice gave him pause. She was supposed to be in a holding cell. “Mordin, get us the fuck off this station.”

“Happy to.” The Salarian responded nearly immediately. “Tali. Need copilot, seat too small for Krogan.”

“Of course,” The ever elusive Quarian answered, the voice was distinctly female. The pair made their way to the cockpit. “But wouldn’t it be better if Raik was your copilot? It is her ship.”

“No, no.” Mordin chortled, “Raik horrible pilot, terrible driver, worse dancer.”

“Alright! That’s enough sharing, _Thank you_ Mordin!” Shepard raised her voice in exasperation as she shooed the pair towards the bridge. The engines started up, drowning out the sound of rounds hitting the hull. “Seriously, I’ve never wanted to punch a stranger in the face more than I do now.” Shepard was grousing, “If I ever see Saren in person...ever-”

“You must have him worried if he’s trying so hard to kill you.” a deep rumbling voice interrupted her. Wrex, Garrus suspected. He would need to think of a way out and fast.

“Can’t imagine-” A loud pinging noise emanated from Garrus’ Omitool. The C-SEC officer inhaled deeply, mandibles pressed against his face as he stared down at the device in a mixture of shock and betrayal. He sent a silent, sarcastic thank you to his sister for what appeared to be a cute Varren vid. “What the fuck was that?”

“An omnitool notification.” The Krogan rumbled. “Wasn’t mine.” There was a moment of tense silence, “What?” The Krogan barked defensively.

The ship pulled out of the docking bay, lurching from side to side; Mordin and Tali presumably maneuvering them hastily out of the Citadel. “Just- it sounded like it came from below.” the human woman pointed out, both mercenaries moving steadily towards the ladder well, the chirp and clack of firearms being drawn and readied accompanied their footsteps.

Garrus quickly considered his options, or lack thereof. Fighting would do him no good, not yet anyways. Thinking quickly he subtly activated his C-SEC distress beacon, tucking it under the edge of the table. It emitted a frequency on a very specific channel. If it wasn’t discovered, and he lived through this ordeal, he may have a chance at being rescued. He quickly lay his firearms on the table beside him and took two long steps to the right of it, his hands in the air to show he was unarmed. The pair was upon him within seconds.

“Looks like you have a pest problem.” a wide almost gleeful grin spread across the Krogan’s face. The redhead followed him into the bay, green eyes peering over the sights of a pistol.

Surprise, recognition, confusion, realization and finally begrudging acceptance crossed her face so quickly it was almost dizzying. “Oh what the-” She stopped, taking a deep breath in and then slowly letting it out. “The hell are you doing on my ship, Blue?”

Under normal circumstances, Garrus would have found Shepard’s reaction amusing… but he was a bit more preoccupied with the business end of a shotgun.

“My name is Garrus, actually.” He interjected, best to try and build a rapport if he wanted to make it out alive. “Garrus Vakarian.”

“Doesn’t matter what your name is,” Wrex pressed a little closer, “You’ll be dead soon.”

Shepard sighed, sounding put upon. “We can’t shoot him, Wrex.”  she holstered her weapon and stalked over to confiscate Garrus’.

Wrex, cast the human a sidelong glance, his expression dropping “Why not?” he sounded disturbingly put out.

The ship shuddered as they entered the relay and were slung into another system. “Just cuff him, would you?”

“If he acts up I’m pushing him out the airlock.” Wrex grumbled, holstering his weapon and moving to detain the, now stranded, Turian C-SEC officer. “Where should I put him?”

“The main battery?” she tossed back uncertainly, “We don’t have a brig, just make sure he can’t mess with the guns or anything.”

“Captain,” Mordin’s voice echoed around them as Wrex slapped Garrus’ own Omni cuffs around his wrists. “We seem to be overweight.”

“Yeah!” She groused back, stomping up the steps towards the bridge. “I know. Congratulations everybody, we can officially add kidnapping to our resumes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry for any typos or weird half formed sentences. I have read and reread this chapter a few times but my brain probably processes these things as normal. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Author's Note:**

>  **A/N:** Hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also I noticed as I was posting that I have a lot of Turians cropping up in this... Huh. Might need to pay attention to that next chapter :D


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